


Wrong Number

by meleonon



Category: Metal Gear
Genre: M/M, domestic AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-24
Packaged: 2018-09-23 09:29:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9649751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/meleonon/pseuds/meleonon
Summary: “I did give you my new number right?” He asked, his back to John, who just stared blankly at the screen, trying to remember whether or not he did.“Uhh…no?” John’s face went red as he realized that Kaz didn’t respond because John didn’t send the message to him…he sent it to Kaz’s old number.





	1. Chapter 1

Placing his phone on the diner table next to his water glass with a chuckle, the brunet man glanced up at his companion, who wore a confused, yet amused, smile.

“What’s so funny John?” Tilting her head to the side and narrowing her eyes slightly, letting him know that she was really curious about what he was doing.

“Oh, I just texted Kaz. We’ve been going back and forth all week with stupid puns or jokes. I’ve come up with one to top his last one.” John smiled widely at Eva, his face alight with mischief.

“…Do I dare ask what it was?” Eva chuckled quietly, knowing that, most likely, it wasn’t a PG-13 joke.

“Uhh…” Glancing around the diner, he shrugged. “Not now, but maybe later.” They finished their lunches in mostly silence with John occasionally glancing at his phone to see if Kaz had responded yet.

After paying for both his and Eva’s lunch, John frowned at his phone as they exited the small diner.

“What’s up?” He cast his eye over to look at Eva, then returned his gaze back to his phone.

“Kaz hasn’t responded yet…he always responds within minutes of getting a message…” John shoved his phone into his pocket, looking both ways before crossing the street, Eva following closely behind him.

“Maybe he’s just busy right now?” Trying to ease her friend’s confusion and slight frustration, Eva placed her hand on his shoulder, giving it a minute squeeze.

“He takes the damn thing into the shower to ensure he doesn’t miss a text.” He responded, earning an incredulous laugh.

“Are you serious!?” Eva asked between laughs, turning her bright blue eyes to meet his single blue one.

“Yeah…so it’s strange that he hasn’t responded after…” Pulling out his phone to check the time, “Twelve minutes.” Replacing it back into his pocket, he glanced over at his blonde friend, his expression bordering on worried. 

“Well, if you’re so worried about him, go over to his house and see how he’s doing.” She kissed his cheek before hopping onto her motorcycle and placing her helmet on her head. “It was nice being able to see you again John…we need to hang out more often.” With that, she started up her bike and waved at him, her smile lost underneath her helmet’s visor as she drove off, leaving the man alone.

He watched her for a time, then started off on the short walk to his house. Upon reaching his small suburban house, he unlocked the door and tossed his keys onto the crate that stood next to the door, once again pulling his phone out to check for Kaz’s response.

Nothing.

He sighed and ran his hand though his hair, knowing he should go over and check on his other blonde friend to ensure the man hadn’t gotten wasted or high and hurt himself.

Walking out his front door again, he crossed his lawn and went to his neighbor’s house, knocking loudly on the door. He smirked as he heard a crash as his neighbor tried to rush to the door to see who the hell was banging on their front door.

The door flung open to reveal a red faced Kaz, a frown plastered on his face.

“Goddamn it John! During the half-time show?” Stepping to the side, Kaz let John inside. John was glad that his friend was okay…but it still didn’t answer his question of why he hadn’t responded to his text.

“Want a beer?” John blinked at him, then shook his head.

“No, I’m good…did you get my message?” This time, Kaz blinked at John, pulling his phone out to check.

“Nope.” Kaz put his phone away, heading back to the TV so that he didn’t miss anymore of the football half-time show. “I did give you my new number right?” He asked, his back to John, who just stared blankly at the screen, trying to remember whether or not he did.

“Uhh…no?” John’s face went red as he realized that Kaz didn’t respond because John didn’t send the message to him…he sent it to Kaz’s old number.

“Oh…well, here.” Tossing him his new phone, Kaz resumed watching the singers and the dancers on the screen while he sipped his beer.

John pressed a button on the phone, putting in Kaz’s old password and smiling as it still let him into the phone.

“You really should change your password Kaz.” He mused, flicking through the new phone suddenly remembering why Kaz had needed a new phone…their last trip to the lake had given the fish Kaz’s old phone.

“What’s wrong with Tits?” The blond man questioned, his eyes never leaving the screen. John didn’t answer him, instead he focused on updating his contact info, sighing as he handed the phone back to Kaz.

“So what was the message anyways?” Kaz finally turned to look at him as the show went to commercial.

“Uhh…” John could feel his face heat up, and he shifted on his feet uncomfortably. “You know how we’ve…” That was all he needed to say before Kaz burst into laughter as he figured out why John was so embarrassed looking.

“So are you saying you just sent some random person a racy message?” Kaz wasn’t helping, so John didn’t say anything, instead just fixed him with an unamused glare.

“Alright, alright…” the other man stood up, placing his beer on the coffee table. “Well, think of it this way. There are hundreds of thousands of numbers. The likelihood that someone has already gotten my old number is so slight that your image is probably still safe.” Kaz slapped him on his shoulder, heading off to the kitchen to grab a snack before the game came back on.

“Yeah…I guess so.” John looked on in amusement as Kaz returned with two family sized bags of Doritos, dropping them on the coffee table next to his beer as he flopped back down on the couch.

“Want to join me?” Craning his neck to look over the back of the couch at John, Kaz’s sunglasses slid up his nose and threatened to fall off his face.

“Nah, I’m fine. Gotta head home and do some grocery shopping.” With a nod, Kaz returned to watching the game, opening up one of the bags of chips and waving farewell to John, who let himself out.

Though Kaz had brought up a valid point, John couldn’t help but worry that someone had already been assigned the old number. Walking back across Kaz’s lawn and his own, he opened his door and grabbed his keys off the crate, opting to leave his phone on the crate as he headed off to the store.

 

^^^

 

Nearly jumping in shock as his phone buzzed against his leg, he threw his now-amused friend a look, reaching down to pull it out and see what his mother wanted now.

His eyebrows narrowed at the unfamiliar number, but opened the message anyways, his eyebrows flying up as he read the message.

His friend hummed, nudging his arm curiously as she tilted her head to the side.

“I…don’t even know this person.” He flipped his phone around to let her see and she let out a giggle, her own eyebrows narrowing in confusion. She looked at him, and though she didn’t say a word, he always knew exactly what she was getting at…it was one of the reasons why they were such close friends.

_Could it have been a wrong number?_

“I suppose it could have been a wrong number…but I wonder what kind of conversation would merit a response like this?” Adam huffed, replacing his phone into his pocket for the moment. He hadn’t wanted to even get a phone, but his mother insisted that he get one so they could keep in touch.

He regretted listening to her.

All day, she would text him or call him with random or pointless things, obviously enjoying the fact that she could now communicate with him easier. You’d think that she never got to see him…in fact though, they saw each other every day…unless Adam had the day off from work.

Glancing over to make sure that Quiet was still by his side, he crossed the street, heading towards the movie store. They were going to pick up a cheap movie to watch together that evening as they always did on Fridays. The bell dinged as he opened the door, letting Quiet go in before him. Her eyes darted around the store, trying to see if she could find one right off the bat. Turning to him, she shrugged and headed further into the store and started picking through the clearance bin as it was her turn to pick the movie.

Slipping the phone out of his pocket again, he sighed as he saw that he already had three new messages…from his mother.

Reading through them, he sighed, deciding to respond to her later. Going back to the mystery message, he reread it, snorting out of his nose in slight amusement. With a quick grin, he typed out a response and sent it, though he didn’t expect the person to message him back once he/she realized that he wasn’t who he/she thought he was.

He put the stupid thing back into his pocket as Quiet bounced over, holding out the movie that she had picked out with a mischievous grin. He read the title and snorted, shaking his head in amusement.

“Did you just choose it because it had ‘bird’ in the title?” Cocking an eyebrow at her playfully, he rubbed his arm after she punched it and frowned at him.

_No…I thought it looked stupid. That’s why I choose it._

“I was just teasing you. Come on then, let’s go pick this one up and head on back.” She handed him the case and together they walked up to the cashier, placing the movie down and glancing around at all the highly priced sweets and single bags of microwave popcorn.

“That’s it for you then?” The teenaged boy questioned, ringing up the movie.

“Yeah.” Adam answered, returning his gaze to the boy and paying for the movie. He smiled at the boy as he grabbed the movie, opting out of getting a bag. Together, he and Quiet exited the store. She spun around to look at him as they walked towards Adam’s apartment.

_Think it’ll be even worse than Killer Clowns from Outer Space?_

He laughed, glancing down at the movie case. “Not sure. _Birdemic_ …sure sounds strange alright.” She laughed, spinning again so that they were side to side as they headed down the sidewalk. Once they reached their destination, Adam started fishing around in his pockets, searching for his keys. Huffing once, he slipped his hand into his other pocket once he realized that the keys weren’t there. He narrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he realized, once again, his keys weren’t where they were supposed to be.

“Where the hell are they?” Patting down his front pockets, back pockets, any pocket that he had, his heart started to race as the realization hit him that he didn’t have his keys anymore. Turning around to look at Quiet, he snorted and rolled his eyes at her, reaching out to grab the keys that dangled on her finger. She relinquished her hold on the pickpocketed keys with a giggle, shoving his arm slightly as he grumbled at her unintelligibly.

Opening the door, he let both himself and Quiet inside, both of them slipping their boots off at the front door before proceeding further into the house. Adam went into the living room and started switching out the cords on his television set, replacing his old VCR’s cords with the DVD player’s cords. From behind him, he heard an inquisitive hum and he huffed, glancing back at Quiet before returning his attention to what he was doing.

_Why don’t you just get rid of that old piece of junk and get something better?_

“I like my VHS player, that’s why I haven’t gotten rid of it…besides, most of the westerns I have are on VHS tapes and I couldn’t watch them if I got rid of it.” He explained as he scooted out from behind the TV, inhaling deeply as he smelt the buttery scent of the popcorn that Quiet had started cooking. He cocked an eyebrow at her unbelieving look at his utter stubbornness. She eventually dropped her gaze with a small laugh, motioning for him to wait a moment. Turning and leaving the living room, Quiet headed upstairs to retrieve some blankets to cuddle up in before the movie started.

While he waited, Adam sat on the couch and pulled out his phone to go through the messages that his mother had, without a doubt, had already sent him.

He was surprised to only see one message…from that unknown number from earlier. Pressing his finger against the touch screen, he opened the message, wondering why the person had responded to him.

(846): sorry, that was meant for my friend. Wasnt meant to go to you :)

He blinked, well…that much had been obvious. Shaking his head with a smile on his face, he typed back a response, hitting the send button before turning his phone off completely and setting it on his coffee table. Suddenly, he was bombarded with at least four blankets being dumped over his head and a girlish giggle as Quiet flopped on the couch next to him as she grabbed the DVD player’s remote and settled down into a more comfortable position in her pile of blankets and a few pillows she decided were necessary, the bowl of popcorn nestled between them.

With a smile, she hit play and returned the remote to its proper place on the coffee table while she shifted the blankets around them more comfortably, settling against Adam’s side with a soft sigh, her head resting on his shoulder. She had been bullied throughout her life, no one had cared enough for her to even say a single nice thing, yet…she glanced over at her best friend…Adam was different.  He was quite a few years older than her, yet when she had run away from home he had taken her under his wing and allowed her into his home and since then they had bonded and created a relationship that transcended any other relationship that she had had before, though it was purely platonic…she saw him more of a father than her own father…even if he was only six years older than her.

She was content here with him, and she was kinda selfish in saying that she was glad that he never seemed to date anyone since she didn’t want to share him with anyone else.

 

^^^^

 

Placing the last of his groceries on the counter, John headed back to the crate next to his front door to grab his phone again, wondering if the wrong number person had responded or just left it at that….though he knew that he had just sent a response to the person only a few minutes before.

He grinned when he saw he had a message from them.

(926): You don’t greet all strangers like that? So, I must be special then.

John chuckled, ignoring the groceries for the moment in order to type out another response, hitting send and setting the phone on his countertop while he put away his food.

He was disappointed when he saw that they hadn’t replied by the time that he had put away the last of his food and he found himself wondering if that was it…that he wouldn’t hear from this mystery person that he had never met before again. Shrugging his shoulders, he opened his freezer, pulling out one of the frozen pizzas he had just put away and ripped open the box. Placing it on one of his pans, he slid it into the oven and set the timer, heading into the living room to see what was on TV.

After about thirty minutes, the timer went off and John wandered back into the kitchen to pull out the pizza. Sliding the pizza off the pan and onto a plate, John grabbed a fork and headed back into the living room and sat on the couch, leaving the fork on his coffee table and opting to just eat the pizza with his hands.

His phone buzzed and he nearly dropped the slice of pizza he was holding onto the floor as he shot his arm out to grab the phone from the table, wondering if the other person had finally gotten back to him.

It was Kaz.

Kaz: MY TEAM WON! WANNA GO TO TEH SHOOTNG RANGE TOMMORROW????

Rolling his eye good-naturedly, John responded with a smile.

John: Sure why not. we havent been there in a while

Kaz responded almost instantly, as per usual.

Kaz: COOL! SEE YA TOMORROWW THEN!11;)

John snorted, putting his phone down. It was way too easy to tell when Kaz was drunk over text…then again, sometimes it was hard to tell when he wasn’t since he had a unique way of texting, very loudly and in all caps…with lots of emoji and punctuation.

After a couple of pointless hours of sitting on his couch alone, watching whatever lame show that caught his eye, John yawned, standing up and grabbing his phone and heading into his bedroom to get ready for the night. Placing his phone on his dresser as he searched through his clothes for something more comfortable, John’s head snapped up to look at the phone’s screen as it buzzed again. Before the screen could go black again, he grabbed it and swiped his finger across the screen to unlock it. He grinned when he saw Kaz’s old number.

(926): I’m surprised that you still are responding to me honestly.

John huffed in amusement, not really knowing why he was talking to this complete stranger that he accidently had messaged…he just felt some strange connection with the person. Tilting his phone to get his keyboard, he responded, hoping that the person would respond back sooner than last time.

OUTGOING: I could say the same to you

Setting his phone down so that he could change into his pajamas, his heart leapt in joy as his phone alerted him to another message, his arm shooting out to grab it and abandoning trying to put on his pants for the moment.

(926): You got me there. So, how did you even get my number?

Fingers flying over the touch screen keyboard, he sent his response, finally returning to pulling his pants all the way up and he managed to get his shirt on properly before he received another message.

(926): So I just happened to get your friend’s old number, figures. Makes me wonder what conversation led to what you sent me.

John laughed, settling onto his bed, his eyes never leaving his phone screen as he continued the conversation.

OUTGOING: we…were sending jokes like that back and forth…trying to oneup each other’s jokes

They went back and forth for a while, John having forgotten about his earlier tiredness. John was surprised at how easily the conversation with the other person had been going…he wasn’t known for good social skills, so he was glad that the stranger didn’t seem to notice…either that or they didn’t mind.

OUTGOING: Hey, I don’t know your name and Id like to input you in as a contact

There was a longer time between the messages this time and John wondered if he may have stepped over some sort of boundary with the other person, but he sighed in relief as he received another message.

(926): I’d rather not give out my name…but Ocelot will work I suppose.

With a smile, John input Ocelot into his contact list, glad to replace the three numbers that he had come to associate with the other person.

OUTGOING: Cool, I put you in. If we’re going to do different names, then Snake works for me.

He had debated between a few different names, but settled on Snake since he really liked them. Both as animals and as food.

Ocelot: Alright then Snake it is. Anyways, I’ve got to get to bed, I have work early in the morning.

Even though he was slightly disappointed, he responded again, knowing that he should get to bed as well. His job didn’t start until later in the day, but he knew if he didn’t get to bed now, he would end up waking up a few minutes before he needed to be at work.

OUTGOING: Alright, good night then. Can I ask where you work?

He knew that may have been pushing it, but there was just something about this person that made him want to know them better.

Ocelot: No, I don’t want you showing up and trying to find me. Good night though.

John snorted, though he knew that that may have been the reason why he asked in the first place.

OUTGOING: I tried :) yeah but good night don’t let the bed bugs bite

There was a few minutes of silence and John figured that that was it for the night, so he reached over to put his phone on the bedside table, but paused as it buzzed again in his hand.

Ocelot: Bed bugs? Is that a thing?

He could almost hear the other person’s confusion over the text and he laughed out loud.

OUTGOING: No? You’ve never heard that saying before?

John wondered more than ever who this other person was and he was disappointed that they didn’t want to meet up with him…then again, he didn’t blame them since they were just strangers…that didn’t stop John from making a goal to meet with Ocelot in person one day.

Ocelot: Nope, guess it wasn’t common where I’m from.

Gears started turning in his head and, even though they had already said goodnight, John couldn’t help but continue.

OUTGOING: Oh? Where are you from?

The response came rather quickly and he grinned as he read what Ocelot had sent.

Ocelot: Maybe another time okay? I’ve really got to get to sleep.

Now, he had a reason to text Ocelot later and he wouldn’t feel weird trying to start up a conversation with him…he didn’t have the best social skills.

John left it at that, placing his phone to the side and laying his head down his mind racing with how he was going to try to meet Ocelot in person.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Stretching her arms over her head and listening to her back crack in sweet relief, Quiet walked downstairs, the carpet soft under her feet, so unlike the dirty rough carpeting her parent’s house had. Nearly wincing as her feet touched the cold hardwood floor at the bottom of the stairs, she made her way to the laundry room to place her towel from her morning shower in the hamper, freezing in shock as she met Adam’s amused blue eyes. Gathering herself together she hummed at him, her throat stinging slightly at the sound.

_Aren’t you supposed to be at work already?_

He huffed a chuckle, making her smile slightly, before he responded. “My mother called me up this morning saying that she didn’t need me in today. I didn’t really care enough to ask as to why not.” She chuckled, cocking her head at him curiously.

_So what are your plans for the day then?_

He grinned at her, and, not for the first time, she was glad that he could communicate with her. Sometimes, she truly wondered how he understood her hums, but she quickly decided that it didn’t matter, all that mattered was that he did.

“I figured I’d go to the range for a while. You’d be more than welcome to come with me if you want.” She smiled widely at him, nodding her head at him before going to finish dumping her towel in the hamper and getting her boots on.

She met him by the front door with a grin, heading outside and over to his motorcycle while he locked the door behind them.

Getting onto the bike, Adam up righted it, his eyes turning to look at her as she hopped on behind him, her arms wrapping around his waist so that she wouldn’t fall off.

“Ready?” He asked, though she knew it was more rhetorical than anything, but she hummed in agreement anyways.

They hadn’t gone to the shooting range in quite a while, since Adam had been busy with his work, being called in nearly every day and working for basically the entire day. She worked as well, but just at a small plant store that didn’t have long hours or great pay, but she refused to live at Adam’s house without contributing anything liked he always insisted.

They pulled up at the small shooting range, cutting the engine as they got off the bike. At the door, Adam held it open for her, gesturing grandly at her with a “After you, my lady,” causing her to grin at his behavior, miming a curtsy before entering the building.

The man at the front was kind enough to them, apparently being one of Adam’s acquaintances. As they headed out back, Quiet giggled as Adam twirled his handgun, as if he was in one of those western movies he adored so much. All he needed was a cowboy hat to match his cowboy boots.

They weren’t the only ones at the range, though Quiet had hoped that they would have been. She tried ignoring both men, preferring to keep her attention on both her shooting and Adam.

 

^^^^   

 

Kaz had forgotten about his drunken text from the night before, so he was surprised when John had shown up at the door asking him if he was ready to go to the range.

They had taken John’s dumpy car, much to Kaz’s disappointment, arriving there just as they opened up. Usually, this early in the morning, there wasn’t going to be anyone else showing up, most people showing up in the afternoon.

So, both of them were surprised to see a couple walk in and join them out in the range. While Kaz was still shooting his rounds, John took the opportunity to check out the other two people. Both of them were quite cute, and John wished that he had the social prowess to go over them nonchalantly and introduce himself.

“Hey, John? Earth to John. What are you doing?” Kaz’s voice brought him back to himself, John’s eye snapping over to him.

“Oh, nothing. You done?” He nodded towards Kaz’s chosen gun, a simple pistol.

“Yeah, been done for a while.” Kaz grinned at him, leaning towards him to see if he could figure out what John had been staring at, eyes slipping over to him to look at him out of the corner of his eyes almost knowingly.

“Ah, I see. She’s rather attractive isn’t she?” Kaz waggled his eyebrows at him, enjoying the shades of red that John turned.

“I…I wasn’t looking at her.” John attempted to counter Kaz, but the blond just grinned even wider at that.

“Oh, I get it. Hmm…” Kaz turned to look back at the other duo, watching as the other blond man fired off all eight of his shots and hitting the targets dead on. “He’s pretty cute too I suppose.”

John spluttered at him, whacking him on the head in response which only received a laugh from the younger man.

“Why don’t you go over and say ‘Hi’ then?” Kaz asked, placing his hands on his hips and staring at John expectantly.

“I…” John glanced over to the duo again, watching as the brunette girl took her gun, a sniper rifle, and shot off a round, smiling when it hit the target dead center. “You know how bad I am with people.”

Kaz just laughed, shoving his shoulder lightly. “You did just fine with me, and look where we are now!” he exclaimed, but John just glanced at him skeptically.

“I don’t know Kaz…” he grumbled, turning back to look at their guns that just didn’t seem to have the same appeal as they did a short while ago. When he looked back to Kaz, he startled as he noticed the other man had disappeared from his side. It only took him a moment to locate his friend, who had taken it upon himself to go introduce himself to the other couple. John walked over to them, silently dreading what was to come.

“…and this is my friend!” Kaz exclaimed noisily, gesturing to John as he walked over to them.

The pair of them just stared at them, Kaz mostly, looking uninterested at whatever he was saying.

“He thought that you looked just too hot, but was too embarrassed to come say hi by himself.” Kaz blurted out, much to John’s mortification.

“Kaz!” John snapped, not able to bring himself to look up at the other two.

All four of them stared at each other in complete silence for a good minute before Kaz broke it again.

“So, you come here often?” He asked, though it sounded more like a pick-up line than anything else.

“That’s none of your business.” The blond man practically growled at him, shifting slightly so that he stood in between Kaz and the brunette girl. John had the realization that the man had assumed that Kaz was talking about the brunette girl by his side when he had said ‘you looked just too hot’.

The silence washed over them again, and this time, Kaz elbowed John in the side, urging him to say something this time. John’s eye shot over to look at his friend, who motioned with his head towards the couple.

“Uhh…” John started, his eye pausing on the man’s face, who looked rather unimpressed with both of them. “You know…a revolver would suit you better.” He eventually spluttered out and he could feel the back of his neck heat up in embarrassment as he realized what he had just said.

“…What?” the man narrowed his eyebrows at him, crossing his arms across his chest almost challengingly.

“Yeah…you tend to twist your elbow to absorb the recoil. That’s a revolver technique.” John told him, shifting on his feet slightly, his eye dropping to the ground for a moment and he almost smiled when he saw the man was wearing cowboy boots, complete with spurs. When he looked back up to the man’s face, the urge to smile died as he saw how pissed off the man looked.

“Come on, let’s go.” The other blond said to the girl, who just nodded once before turning around and walking back to the counter, the man following behind her as to block her from their view and John was struck with disappointment.

“But…that was some fancy shooting…” John’s mouth apparently didn’t realize that he should just let the man leave, but he didn’t want to let him go quite yet. The man turned his head to look back at him slightly, his eyebrows narrowed in confusion and annoyance, so John finished. “You’re pretty good.”

That had apparently been the final straw for the man, who turned and followed the girl out the door, though John could hear the muttered, “Pretty good?” and he nearly grinned.

“Good going Kaz.” John said, his annoyance seeping through his voice as he returned his attention back to his friend that had gotten him into this mess.

“Well, you could have just admitted to him that you thought he was cute.” Kaz shot back, turning back to where they had left their rented guns, missing the glare that was sent his way.

“I never said anything like that.” Following Kaz to the counter, they thanked the man at the front before heading outside.

“You didn’t need to. I can just tell from the way you kept staring at him. I haven’t seen you look at someone like that since…well…a long time anyways.” Kaz told him, his grin wide and joyful. “Besides…you thought he was _pretty good._ ” He teased, turning his sunglasses covered eyes over to his pal. John just sighed, unlocking his car and flopping into the driver’s seat. He was kind enough to wait until Kaz was in the car before backing out of the parking lot and driving back to their houses in relative silence.

“Well, they were obviously close, so they probably were dating anyways.” Even though he seemed to be addressing Kaz, it sounded more as if he was trying to convince himself that this was true, but Kaz didn’t buy it one bit.

“Seriously? I doubt it.” He sounded confident and John looked over at him for a moment, before turning his attention back to the road with a grunt, asking him to continue, “She looked younger than him by quite a few years, so unless he’s like, her sugar daddy or something, I doubt they were dating.” John didn’t look over at him this time, instead just waited, knowing that the other man wasn’t finished yet. “Or he could have been her father.” Kaz went silent after that.

Sure, Kaz may have been right…but it didn’t matter anyways. It wasn’t as if they were ever going to see the duo again and he doubted that they would ever want to see him if they did.

Pulling into his driveway, John got out of his car, shutting and locking his door before glancing up at Kaz who was already halfway to his own house, waving at him from across their lawns.

“See ya later John! Gotta get ready for work.” With that, Kaz disappeared inside his house, leaving John alone outside.

Heading inside his own house, John plopped down on his couch with a sigh.

There was just something about that man that had John’s heart racing in a way that he hadn’t felt in years, and he couldn’t explain as to why.

Pulling out his phone, he pressed the button on the top to turn it on. After swiping the lock away, John went to his contact list, scrolling down until he reached his newest contact. Clicking on the name, John started typing out a message, hesitating for a moment before pressing send. He leaned against the back of his couch, waiting a few minutes to see if Ocelot would respond soon.

OUTGOING: I just met the most wonderful person today. Problem is…i think he hates me

John shifted around his couch, searching for the absolutely most comfortable position, though every time he thought that he had found it, he realized that it wasn’t as great as it was a few moments prior.

Eventually, his phone buzzed, making John shoot up and grab the phone, excitedly seeing who had texted him.

It was Ocelot.

Ocelot: Well, the line between love and hate is a thin one, so I’m sure you may still have a chance.

John smiled softly, his heart already feeling better, though now, he wanted to know more about the person behind the name Ocelot.

OUTGOING: You think so? he was pretty cute…though i dont know if I’ll get to see him again…or if he wants to see me again

Though John was talking about the man from the range like he really wanted a chance with him (he did), he found himself wanting to meet Ocelot more. There was a longer gap between the texts this time, and after a couple minutes, John wondered if that was it for now.

Deciding to go to the bathroom while he waited to see if Ocelot would respond again, John found himself hurrying back to find a message waiting for him.

Ocelot: Well, I’m sure with enough womanly charms, he’ll fall right into your lap.

…?

…John…didn’t know what to say for a while, his eye glued to the screen in utmost confusion.

Womanly charms?

Did Ocelot think he was a woman?

OUTGOING: that’s great i suppose…if I was a woman, which i’m not.

Typing back his response, John sat back against the couch, wondering how Ocelot had gotten the idea that he was a woman…then it hit him. He had told Ocelot about the **man** that he had fallen for. Ocelot must have assumed that he was a woman because of that.

Thinking about it…John had no clue as to whether Ocelot was male or female…though he had just assumed male since that seemed to be everyone’s default if they were unsure.

Looking down at his phone with a sort of dread this time, he wondered if his bisexual tendencies was enough to draw the line with Ocelot.

Ocelot: …sorry, I assumed wrong I guess. I don’t know many people who are like that.

Narrowing his eye in what looked like anger, John responded, not sure how Ocelot had meant for that to come across.

OUTGOING: Like that? Well excuse me for being bisexual…if you don’t want to talk to me anymore then dont…i dont care.

With a huff, he dropped the phone on the couch, suddenly regretting snapping at Ocelot like that. He figured that that’s it, he wasn’t going to hear from Ocelot again. To his surprise, his phone buzzed again, so he picked it up and swiped his finger across the screen, reading his message.

Ocelot: That would be very hypocritical of me if I didn’t. I didn’t mean to offend you.

Sighing with a smile on his face, John responded, feeling better all of a sudden.

OUTGOING: You’re bi too? And its fine, didn’t know what you meant by your text.

John settled himself into the couch, suddenly finding it hell of a lot more comfortable than he had a while ago, happy to just sit here and text Ocelot for the time being.

^^^

Adam stared at his phone for a while…amazed at what he was seriously doing right now. He was sitting here, talking with a complete stranger and he had already admitted to being interested in men…though he supposed that it was easier when said man had already told him he was bi…but he had only told two people in his life that he was gay…his mother and his father…and his father was dead now.

Yet, he was sitting on the couch, his finger hovering over the send button that would send a message to some man somewhere out in the real world, telling him the truth that he withheld from so many people…even the ones closest to him.

OUTGOING: Actually no, I’m just into men.

Whether or not he meant to press the button, his phone told him that the message had been sent and Adam sighed, setting his phone down for a moment, glancing over at Quiet, who was getting ready to head off to her job. She met his gaze and smiled at him, humming at him contentedly before returning to lacing up her boots. Hopping up from her seat, she walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug before stepping back and mimicking his signature hand gestures back at him, making him laugh and shoot the gesture back at her with a wink.

“Be careful, but have fun.” He told her, earning him a nod and a look that told him that she always was and didn’t need to be reminded, but appreciated the kind gesture anyways. Spinning around, she practically disappeared out the door and down the street towards the plant shop where she worked.

Finally, he returned his attention back to his phone that had alerted him to a text earlier, but he had ignored in favor of Quiet.

Snake: Nothing wrong with that…wanna meet up?

Adam laughed out loud at that one, shaking his head incredulously. This man sure was blunt wasn’t he? Even though part of him wanted to accept the offer, he found himself hesitating, his mind wandering back to the circumstances of his father’s death, and he shook off the urge quickly, typing out his response just as quickly.

OUTGOING: As tempting as it sounds, I’ll have to decline for now.

Honestly, he had no idea why he was even texting this man…hadn’t his mother always told him to not to talk to strangers? Yet…Snake was an anomaly…he kept Adam wanting more from him…

Snake always responded quickly and Adam wondered about the man behind the name. They certainly didn’t meet in the most…normal of circumstances, yet Adam kept finding himself responding to the man who, for all he knew, could be a serial killer.

Though, he admitted, that was very unlikely…but not impossible.

Each time his phone buzzed, Adam thought, this is the last time I’m going to respond to Snake…

Each time he told himself that, he found himself responding to yet another text…and another after that one…and yet another one, until he realizes that he had been talking to the man for nearly an hour.

Pressing his finger against the screen so that he could read the latest installment of text messages, Adam quickly read the reply and sighed, knowing he was going to respond yet again.

Snake: ‘For now’ so eventually we will ;)

Adam wasn’t sure if he was truly willing to ever meet this mystery person outside the phone conversations they had. He was a lawyer for the most part while his mother was head of the police department, so he had come to be rather paranoid about strangers, so he always ended scaring most people away after he told them he was a lawyer…must be afraid that he would sue them and lock them up in jail for getting drunk or something.

OUTGOING: We’ll see I guess.

Setting his phone down, Adam glanced up at the Tv, which had one of the many western movies that he loved to watch on the screen, the volume muted. With a sigh, he picked up his phone again, this time texting his mother before throwing it onto his coffee table with a huff.

OUTGOING: So, is it bad that I’m texting a man who accidently texted me? I mean, he doesn’t seem bad, and I find it hard to let him go.

It was only a few moments before his phone buzzed again, so he had to reach out and grab it.

Joy: Adam…you’ll be careful won’t you? You have no clue who this man is?

He snorted, shaking his head, suddenly questioning himself as to why he had decided to let his mother know about Snake.

OUTGOING: Of course, mother. I always am.

She must have gotten busy with work, since she didn’t respond to his text after that, but Snake had already responded to him earlier, though Adam had ignored him for a moment. Switching over to Snake’s texts, he was stunned as he read Snake’s message.

Snake: I’d like to meet you sometime.

He wasn’t used to people wanting to hang out with him, but then again he assumed that after Snake had met him he wouldn’t ever want to talk to him again.

He responded to Snake once more, before turning his phone off, deciding that he had had enough of it for the time.

OUTGOING: I doubt that one.

 

 

He didn’t turn his phone on until later that evening, about the time that Quiet usually got off of work and, sure enough, she soon texted him letting her know that she was getting ready to leave. Shooting up off the couch, he grabbed his keys and his jacket. Slipping his jacket on, he kicked the front door shut behind him, locking it and heading over to his motorcycle.

Adam met her at the front door of the plant shop she worked at, grinning at her surprised expression upon seeing him. Coming over to him, she hummed, getting onto the bike behind him, her arms wrapping around his waist comfortably.

_I could have walked home_

Turning his head to look back at her, he smiled. “I know, but I figured we’d go out for dinner tonight. Didn’t feel like cooking tonight.” He told her and she chuckled, resting her chin on his shoulder as he started up the bike again, pulling out of the small parking lot and driving down the road a little ways.

He stopped at the newest restaurant in the town, turning the bike off and getting off.

_How good do you think this place will be?_

Quiet hummed at him, pressing up against his side as they walked together to the door, him opening it for her and following her in.

“Hopefully not like the last place that they built.” She snorted, remembering what he was referencing. The last restaurant they had built was absolutely disgusting, their employees were rude and nasty and their food wasn’t all that great either. Needless to say, they never went back there after the first time.

After being seated, they both glanced through the menus, searching for something that caught their eyes. The waitress came over to them, a smile across her face. Placing down glasses of ice water, she introduced herself.

“I am Paz. I shall be your waitress tonight. Do you need more time to look over the menu?” Her bubbly voice asked them, her light blonde hair glittering in the restaurant’s light. Adam glanced over at Quiet who shook her head.

“No, I think we’ve got it.” Adam told her, then ordered both his, and then Quiets’ for her, both of them handing back their menus to Paz, who grinned then just about skipped away.

“She looks young.” Adam observed out loud, his eye catching Quiet’s for a moment before he started looking around the restaurant, searching for any flaws in it.

He found, though, there wasn’t really anything wrong with it.

Once their food showed up, he was pleased to find out it actually tasted good and the waitress was sweet and pleasant.

That was, until the chef decided to come out and check on his patrons.

“Oh my god! It’s you two!” None other than that obnoxious man from the shooting range earlier came walking over to them, a huge smile across his face.

Rolling his eyes, he glanced over at Quiet, mouthing _shoot me now_ as the blond man reached their table.

“So, how is everything?” Adam knew that the man was enjoying this moment more than he should, so he shot the man a glare.

“It was great before you showed up.” The man looked honestly surprised at his harsh words and Adam, _almost_ , felt bad for snapping at him.

“Oh…well, that’s good I suppose.” He seemed to cheer himself up, his grin spreading across his face again. “You know…” The other man started, tilting his head down so that he could meet Adam’s eyes over the top of his sunglasses, “You broke my friend’s poor heart earlier today.”

With a frown, Adam decided he was done with this place. He didn’t give a fuck whether he had cock-blocked that other man from Quiet and he didn’t come here to talk about it. Motioning to Paz, she came over.

“I’d like the check so that I can leave.” She nodded, leaving so that she could get what he wanted. The other blond frowned, placing his hand on Adam’s shoulder and ignoring the way he tensed up immensely at being touched.

“Hey now, can’t we just talk like adults?” Adam tried to shake his grip off, glaring at him when he didn’t let him go. Quiet stepped in then, having stood up, she grabbed the other man’s hand and pried it off her friend’s shoulder more forcefully, staring the man down with a glare of her own. He put his hands up in surrender, stepping back away from the table in, seemingly confused. After paying the check, Adam and Quiet left, feeling the other man’s gaze on their backs as they left.

The quick ride back to the house was made in silence.

Once inside, Adam hung his jacket up and sighed, looking back at Quiet.

“I say, we never go back.” She laughed, nodding her head in agreement. Wrapping her arms around him in a quick hug, she stepped back with a smile.

She left him downstairs, more than ready to head for bed for the night.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Casting his gaze up as the door to his office opened, Adam met his blonde co-worker’s eyes for a brief moment, before continuing his phone conversation with his client, wishing them a good day then hanging up.

“Need something?” He eyed the woman that had been working alongside him for the past year curiously, wondering what kind of mood she was currently in.

“Nothing much. Just wanted to run a few papers by you real quick if you have a moment.” She said, flipping her hair over her shoulder and leaning her hands against his desk, her breasts vying for attention that he wasn’t ever going to give them.

“Sure, just give me a moment.” Adam told her, jotting down a quick note before reaching his hand out to grab the papers that she wanted him to look over. Finding nothing wrong with them, he handed them back, casting her a suspicious look. “Nothing wrong from what I can see…now what do you really want Eva?”

She laughed, cocking her hip to the side and crossing her arms across her chest as if she was stunned that he would think there was something up.

“Maybe I just wanted to say hi. You haven’t been into work in a couple days and I figured you’d join me for lunch…unless you’re too busy to of course.” Staring down her nose at him, a frown on her face, he grinned at her, very feline like before they both laughed.

“I could use a short break I suppose.” He told her, standing out of his chair and walking around his desk to where she was standing. They both exited his office, him shutting the door behind them then following her to the main lobby area.

“So how’s Quiet?” Eva asked conversationally, her blue eyes looking him over as they left the building and headed down the street to the small diner that they usually went when they decided to eat something than vending machine lunch.

“She’s doing well, likes her job at the plant store down the road.” Holding the door open for his female companion, he followed her in.

After sitting down and ordering the same things that they always did, the conversation started back up.

“That’s good. How’s The Boss?” Adam laughed, shaking his head in amusement at the way she made his mother sound like some super hero or something.

“As she always is. Intense and super focused on her work…” He paused, and Eva had known him long enough to know he was debating on whether he wanted to say more, “She’s been having troubles with her police force though. Lot of people have been transferred to other stations so she’s been shorthanded.” He told her, thanking the waiter as he placed their drinks on the table.

“Hmm…she willing to take people under her wing for training?” She asked, tilting her head at him curiously, though he knew her well enough to know that she was formulating some plan.

“Perhaps…I’d have to ask her about that, but I don’t see why she wouldn’t be. Why? Have someone in mind?” Adam stared at her as she grinned coyly, sipping at her drink as she avoided his question.

“Perhaps…just an old friend that I think is totally your type.” He frowned at her, taking a drink from his own glass. He had never told her about his preference in partners, yet she seemed to act like she knew exactly who he would like. “Oh come on, don’t be a sour puss. I think you would actually like him though.” He sighed, placing his drink down.

“I’m not interested in dating anyone right now Eva and you know that.” Shifting in his seat, he smiled at the waiter as he returned again, this time with their food, then continued after he had left. “Besides, I don’t think I’d be interested in any of your friends…they all sound like complete weirdos.” Thinking that was the end of the conversation, he nearly groaned as she continued on, though he should have expected it from her. She never knew when to let something go.

“No, that’s just Miller. He is a weirdo…but he’s a good weirdo. No, this one is John and he’s a hunk. I dated him once…but he lost interest in me after the first date. We became friends though.” Adam just gave her the most deadpan expression he could, letting her know that he didn’t really care, but then grinned evilly.

“I wonder why?” Her smile fell from her face, quickly replaced by a frown and a glare as she kicked his shin from under the table.

“Asshole.” Even though her words were bitter and harsh, this was normal between them. They argued, but yet they never really meant the hard words they said to one another and they understood that perfectly. It was one of the reasons why Adam had felt she was more qualified for the job she had now than any of the other people that he had interviewed for the position.

“I know. I try.” He joked, laughing at the exasperated roll of her eyes as she conceded in the verbal duel.

“Sometimes I wish you wouldn’t though.” Eva grumbled, grabbing her fork and started eating her lunch. “I do think that he’d be a good candidate for the job though.” She met his eyes with a smile before continuing eating.

“I’ll talk to my mother about it.” With that, the line of conversation was closed and throughout the rest of their meal, they talked about more minor things, just enjoying each other’s company.

 After lunch, they headed back to their workplace, both of them returning to their offices for the rest of the workday.

 

Adam got off work earlier than he had expected to, his clients having decided to cancel their appointment last minute. The drive back to his house was a short one and as soon as he was home he decided to give his mother a call before he forgot to.

Pressing the phone against his ear using his shoulder, Adam opened the fridge, searching for something to whip up for dinner that night. Quiet was due home in the next thirty minutes and he hoped to have dinner ready by the time she returned.

More often than not he would be sent to voicemail where he would leave a message for her to listen to, so he was stunned when she actually picked up after a couple rings.

“Hello?” Adam remained silent for a moment as he realized that he was actually talking to her.

“Hey mom. How’s work going for ya?” Grabbing out a few vegetables, he set them on the countertop, shifting the phone around so that it didn’t feel like it would slip away and fall.

“…fine. What’s going on Adam?” Joy started with a sigh, her voice then transforming into concerned mother who knew something was up since he didn’t call just because he felt like it.

“Nothing much. I was just talking to Eva today and mentioned how your unit has been…cut back.” He paused, and when she remained silent, it was obvious she wanted him to finish, “She said she had a friend that she felt would be good for the job, though he’d require a bit of training…if you were up to it.” Adam told her, chopping up the carrots that he’d pulled out earlier.

“I…may have to take her up with that offer. Of course I’d have to interview him and I’d like for you to run a background check before I hire him.” Her tone had turned serious, as it always did when she talked about her work, but as she continued she grew teasing, “So…how’s this mystery man of yours?” He snorted, switching the phone to his other ear before responding.

“You say that like there’s something between us.” The silence that stretched between them told Adam that that was exactly what she had meant and he chuckled. “Nah, he’s got some other man that has his heart. I’m more like his…” Adam paused, not quite sure what he would be to Snake, then decided it didn’t matter and let it drop.

“Disappointed?” She questioned, teasingly yet serious at the same time…whenever she used that tone he could never figure out which she was leaning towards.

“No, I don’t know anything about the guy. He could be a creep for all I know.” Brushing off her question, he continued chopping up vegetables for whatever he was going to decide to make.

“Perhaps that’s for the best then.” They both went quiet for a moment, and Joy was the one to break it. “Anyways, see if Eva will tell her friend to come to the station Friday morning. Eight am sharp or he doesn’t even have a chance.” Returning to workaholic-mom, Joy smiled at her son’s laugh.

“Right. I’ll make sure to tell her that.” Adam told her, knowing that the conversation was pretty much over. “…I love you.”

“…I know.” He blinked, getting ready to hang up the phone, but smiled as he heard her finish off with a “You too”, before she hung up before he could.

He texted Eva, letting her know what his mother had told him, to which she responded happily, letting him know that she’d let John know.

Adam started focusing on finishing dinner up, and he was grateful to have it finished moments before Quiet had returned home, her face lighting up as she walked in.

Sure, she wasn’t his daughter or even part of his family, but at moments like this, he felt like that didn’t matter and that they were closer than that.

 

^^^

 

Grabbing his phone when it buzzed, John hoped that it was Ocelot, but was slightly disappointed when it was only Eva. Clicking to read the message she sent him, he perked up in shock.

Eva: Hey, got you an interview next Friday. 8am sharp at the station. Figured youd want a new job. You can thank me later ;)

John was stunned.

He had wanted a new job for a while, but he wasn’t sure what he had wanted…but a job in policing? Working alongside the esteemed The Boss (he’d heard a lot about her from Eva), was something that he had never thought that would happen, and wasn’t sure if it was truly happening.

OUTGOING: ill be there! How’d you manage that one?

John stared down at his phone as he waited for his friend to respond, his finger flicking the screen unlocked as it told him she had.

Eva: I was talking to a coworker and asked him if he’d ask The Boss to at least interview you for the job. She said she would. <3

To say that he was excited for a change of jobs was an understatement. He sat there wondering what kind of position he would get. A police officer would be cool…but he would even be happy as a security guard of sorts.

He had to tell Ocelot.

Flipping over to the other man’s contact info, he typed out his message, hoping that he would respond soon.

OUTGOING: I got an interview this week. Cant wait for new job :)   ….thats if i get it though.

John had the sudden realization that he didn’t have a suit or any really nice clothes for an interview and he only had two days to get ready for it. He didn’t want to show up looking like a slob (not that he usually looked like one), but he had seen the kinds of suits that the workers in her business wore on a daily basis and he didn’t want to look underdressed.

His phone buzzed and he clicked on the screen again, excited to see that Ocelot had gotten back to him.

Ocelot: I’m sure you’ll do fine. Hopefully you get it, especially if you don’t like your current job.

John grinned at that, he honestly felt like he and Ocelot would get along real well if they ever met in real life…and he hoped that they would eventually.

OUTGOING: Yeah, I can be hopeful. Though i need a suit

He figured he’d go out tomorrow and see what he could find for cheap, then the day after he’d try his hardest to make a good first impression on The Boss.

Ocelot: Good luck with that. I gotta go though. Talk to you later.

John huffed, wondering why he needed to go so soon, but let him go. Settling back into the couch like he had been before Eva had texted him with his life changing news, he stared ahead at the Tv, wondering what he could do to ensure he got the job as he drifted off to some cheesy western movie that he had put on to see what his crush, Adam, liked about them.

 

The next morning, he woke up on the couch, the TV still on, though it had changed to some early morning soap opera, which he gratefully turned off, heading into the kitchen for a quick breakfast before he went shopping.

Grabbing the container that usually held his coffee grounds, he shook it with a frown, realizing how light it felt. Upon opening it, he frowned even further realizing he forgot to buy more coffee when he had gone to the store last time. He couldn’t go shopping without having his morning coffee.

Deciding to head to the local coffee shop before he went shopping, John went outside and hopped in his car, starting it up and backing out of his driveway.

Pulling up at the coffee shop, he got out and walked inside, surprised to see how many people there were. He knew that people liked coffee…but there were a LOT of them in the tiny building. He got in line and started looking around at the art on the walls. Art wasn’t something that John paid much attention to, but since there wasn’t much else to do at the moment, he was transfixed with all of the art, even tilting his head back to look at the painting that seemed to flow up the walls to the ceiling, though he had to admit, the small photograph of an Ocelot was what had most of his attention.

“Are you going to move or just stand there all day?” A voice called out from behind him, causing John to jump slightly as he tilted his head over to look at who had addressed him, his face heating up as he realized who it was.

Adam stared back at him, his eyebrows narrowed in what looked like annoyance and John noticed that the line had moved by at least three people and he was holding everyone else up.

“Sorry…” John mumbled, closing the gap between himself and the person in front of him. He knew that he shouldn’t stare…but he was surprised to have actually seen Adam again and he couldn’t help himself. Turning back around slightly, he looked at the blond man, wondering how he could start up a conversation with him. First clearing his throat to get him to look up from his phone, John almost forgot what he was going to ask, but when Adam raised an eyebrow curiously he remembered.

“You come here often?” He was glad to have asked, though he felt awkward when the other man didn’t look very impressed.

“Yeah. Every morning. I’m assuming you’ve never been here before.” Adam looked around the shop, even though he was talking to John.

“You’d…be right about that. Forgot to buy coffee last time I went to the store.” Shifting on his feet, John wasn’t sure where to go from there, though he moved forwards when Adam motioned to him to let him know the line was moving again.

“How’d you manage to forget something so important?” John chuckled, glad to see something other than a frown on Adam’s face for once. He knew he was in deep when his heart tightened at the smirk on the other man’s face.

“I’m not sure…but I did.” Moving forwards once again as he got closer to the front of the line, John suddenly wished there were a hundred more people in front of him so that he could stay here and talk to Adam longer.

Unfortunately though, John soon reached the front and had to order his coffee. Ordering something quick and easy, yet very plain, John soon found himself stuck with the choice of just leaving, or sticking around in the off chance of being able to talk to Adam for a while longer…yet risking looking like a weirdo because he stuck around just to talk to him.

So he left.

Then soon regretted it when he realized that he hadn’t officially been given Adam’s name and he didn’t give Adam his name.

Settling in his seat with a sigh, he glanced down at his coffee sitting in his cup holder.

Maybe…he’d have to start coming here more often…Adam did say he came here every morning so there was a chance that he’d meet up with him again.

Heading off to the nearest store that he could find a suit, John felt giddy that he had actually had a decent conversation with the man that had stolen his heart.

And he couldn’t wait to tell Ocelot about it.

 

As soon as he got home, he placed his cheaply purchased suit in his practically empty closet before sitting down on his couch again, pulling out his phone.

OUTGOING: I talked to Adam today. I think it went really well :)

Ocelot responded sooner than John figured he would.

Ocelot: That’s good. Maybe ask him out next time ;)

John laughed, settling into the cushions further and becoming one with the couch.

They exchanged a few more messages, before John decided that it was time that he started getting ready for bed. He didn’t want to oversleep and miss his interview after all.

 

^^^^ 

 

Adam headed into work earlier on Friday, since he knew that his mother would be coming in for her interview with this ‘John’, and would turn him over to Adam so he could go over basic things, such as the oh-so-important background check and psychiatric evaluation that Adam would take him through.

Eva walked into his office, a grin on her face.

“Good morning!” Her chipper voice broke the silence of his office and he snorted at her, shaking his head in slight amusement.

“It is indeed the morning, though I don’t see what makes it a ‘good’ one.” That earned him a huff, and he grinned back at her. “So did your John show up on time?” He asked conversationally, already knowing that was why she was here.

“Oh yeah. He made sure he was here _way_ before his interview so that he didn’t miss it.” Eva told him, amusement lacing her words.

“Oh? How early?” So, he wasn’t supposed to know anything about the man before he walked in for his evaluations, but he couldn’t help but get a feel for what he was dealing with.

“About the same time the doors opened.” Sitting on his desk, even though she was fully aware that he hated it when she did so, Eva twirled her hair around her finger, her blue eyes watching the people in the hallway coming in for the day.

“Really now…that early?” Narrowing his eyebrows in confusion, Adam couldn’t figure out why the man would come in nearly three hours early just to make sure he didn’t miss an interview.

“Yep. Anyways…” Eva hopped off his desk, twirling around to face him. “I should get back to work. Don’t want you ratting me out, saying I wasn’t working.” Swaying her hips as she exited his office, Eva left him alone, his office once again returning to its perpetual silence that he preferred.

 

^^^

 

John fidgeted in his seat, checking his phone every few moments to look at time, his heart practically pounding as he saw it was six minutes away from eight am sharp.

Footsteps clacking against the ground caused him to snap his head up to see who was coming closer to him, standing as he met the gaze of the blonde haired woman walking his way.

“I take it you’re John then.” Her voice boomed as she stood in front of him, her stance screaming her confidence.

“Yes. I am.” He was grateful his voice didn’t waiver, since this woman was unlike anyone he had ever met before.

“Very well then. Let’s get this interview started.” She headed into her rather unused office, motioning for him to take a seat across from her, which he did, his back straight unlike his usual slouched position.

He didn’t remember much about what she asked him about, or even what he had answered, but he soon found himself smiling as she reached her hand out to shake his.

“I think that you might just work out John.” A grin broke out across his face, though it shook as she continued. “Though, I still will need you to head to my son’s office where he’ll evaluate you.” Standing up when she did, he must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He wasn’t aware that there was more to the interview than just the interview…

An evaluation?

What kind of evaluation?

Following her further into the building, he glanced around as they walked past doors upon door that seemed to never end, though he paused when he met Eva’s blue eyes as they walked past her office. She grinned at him and sent him a thumbs up as he passed by.

The Boss paused eventually at a door, knocking once before opening the door and motioning him to head on in, leaving him alone with her son for the…evaluation.

He walked in, sitting down in the chair that he figured he was supposed to before looking up at The Boss’ son.

They stared at each other for what seemed like an hour, but he knew that it had only been a few moments.

“So…you’re John?” Adam asked, nodding at his mother, letting her know that everything was going to be okay and he didn’t need her hovering over them.

“Yeah.” John suddenly felt uncomfortable…he hoped he wouldn’t ruin his chances during this evaluation…both the chance for the job and his chance at dating Adam.

“Nervous?” Adam questioned, raising an eyebrow and looking at him cryptically.

“…Little?” Adam just nodded at that, then asked him for his full name, which John gave to him, listening as Adam’s fingers flew across the computer’s keyboard as he typed, what he could assume was, his name.

“Any reason in particular?” He questioned, obviously paying more attention to what was on the screen than what John was doing, though he answered him anyways.

“I haven’t had many…evaluations.” Adam laughed at that one, turning to look at him finally, his amusement showing through his expression.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. I’m not going to do anything ridiculous. Just make sure you aren’t…crazy or homicidal.” Flashing a grin at him, Adam made John feel much more comfortable. He was glad that it wasn’t anything too bad.

Adam asked him a few strange questions, though John answered all of them truthfully, no matter how strange they sounded. Apparently, Adam was pleased with whatever conclusion he had come to since he eventually stood up.

“Well, I have to say, I can’t sense anything crazy nor homicidal in you. So I guess you check out.” He walked around his desk towards John, who had the crazy urge to reach out and hug the other man…but withheld the urge. “I’ll let my mother know and I’m sure you’ll start your training soon.” Adam started heading out of his office, leading John back through the long hallways that seemed more like a maze than anything.

John was so excited that he didn’t want to wait to tell Ocelot about what had happened…but he wasn’t sure if it was against the rules to text in the hallway, so he figured it was best to ask first.

“Hey…uhh…is it alright if I text my friend and tell him I may be getting the job?” Adam turned his head to look back at him, a soft smile across his face.

“Yeah. It’s not against the rules or anything. You won’t get a time out.” Said teasingly, John was sure that his crush was only getting stronger. Pulling out his phone, he started typing out his message and before he sent it he was surprised to see how much he had started to ramble in his excited state, causing his message to become longer than most of the previous messages he had sent, but he pressed send anyways.

OUTGOING: Finished the interview! I think I may get the job. ALSO, Adam works at the place and I really really want to kiss him right now, but i dont think that i should at the moment…but god he looks so hot and im pretty sure I like him more than just a little now JJJ<3

He put his phone back into his pocket, his eye deciding to wander the man in front of him’s back, lingering on his ass, then watching as he pulled out his own phone.

Even though he was watching the other man closely, he didn’t expect him to stop suddenly, so he rammed into him, nearly knocking both of them over.

Adam spun around, his eyes wide in what looked to be shock.

“You!” John glanced around, not sure what he was talking about.

“Uhh…me?” Did he do something wrong? He suddenly started getting worried, trying to figure out just what he had done wrong.

“Snake?” John’s blood ran ice cold, then his face heated up as two and two slowly became four.

“…Ocelot?” They stared at each other for a good minute before Adam burst into laughter, causing John to blink in confusion.

“I…I can’t believe…” Adam rubbed at his eyes, trying to regain his composure as John felt like an idiot. Did he seriously text Adam all of those things about him…without him realizing that he was actually texting the object of his desires? “I can’t believe that you’re Snake.” He was facing John, his eyes wandering the other man’s body as John wasn’t sure what to do.

“Uhh…yeah.” He shifted on his feet, his eye dropping to look at the plain carpet.

Nearly stepping backwards as Adam invaded his personal space, John’s eye shot up to look at Adam, but then slipped shut as Adam pressed his lips against John’s softly.

John reached his hand up and carded it through Adam’s shorter hair, pulling him closer, though he wasn’t even sure this was happening right then. As quickly as it started, Adam pulled away, grinning very much like the feline name that John had known him as for a while.

“Well then, let’s go tell mother about how you did…then later…” John met Adam’s pale blue eyes hopefully, his smile still on his face from the kiss, “I think we need to have a talk.” With a wink, Adam spun around, his spurs clinking as he started down the hallway again, John right behind him, hoping that this meant that Adam wasn’t weirded out by him.

John had never thought that a wrong number would have ever changed his life in the way it had, though he was glad that he had texted the number he had or else he wouldn’t be where he was and he wouldn’t be sure where he was going.

Though, he knew that the first moment he had the chance to, he was changing Ocelot to Adam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I may come back to this au sometime in the future, but for now, I hope you enjoyed it!

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't sure how to do the text messages, so hopefully they aren't too confusing. Also, i apologize if parts seem awkward...I don't really have a fancy phone, so I'm not quite sure how fancier phones look/work, so I wrote what seemed logical.  
> So, this is a finished work, but I'm going to post it in sections so that I can look through it and make sure I don't have many mistakes.   
> About Quiet, I guess I kinda cheated between her interactions and Ocelot's because I wasn't sure how to have her interact with him in a domestic setting without talking or some sort of communication...but...I'd love to know what y'all thought of it so far though ;)


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